Changsha Zoumalou Three Kingdoms Wu Bamboo Slips. Jiahe Official and Common People's Land Certificates (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: Changsha Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Cultural Relics, Department of History, Peking University
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1999-09-01
Features: The Changsha Zoulao Three Kingdoms Wu Jians collected herein consist of bamboo slips and wooden tablets unearthed from Well No. 11 at the Zoulao construction site in Changsha, Hunan Province, in October 1996. For details on the discovery and excavation of these artifacts, please refer to the Excavation Report of Well No. 22 at Zoulao, included in this volume. The discovery of the Zoulao Wu Jians represents the results of emergency archaeological excavation. The first batch of unearthed slips, including most wooden slips, wooden tablets, and some bamboo slips, were salvaged from the silt dug up by earth-moving machinery, with varying degrees of damage, making their original condition and spatial relationship indeterminate. Subsequently, archaeological excavation of Well No. 11 was conducted based on stratigraphic relationships, and most bamboo slips were recovered during later excavations. The 1,141 wooden slips (including fragments) of tenancy-related documents, which began to be organized in 1997, mostly belong to the salvaged batch, with relatively intact material and legible inscriptions. Due to their unique form, similar content, and minimal damage, these large wooden slips were published as Volume I of the Changsha Zoulao Three Kingdoms Wu Jians, titled "Jia Mu Li Min Tian Jia Qing," with a method of comparing slips and transcriptions. The bamboo slips from the salvaged batch, which are more heavily damaged, have now been organized, numbered, and transcribed. They will be published in separate volumes alongside the bamboo slips excavated using archaeological methods. Most of the Zoulao Wu Jians that have been organized and transcribed bear clear dates, primarily belonging to the early period of the Three Kingdoms Wu-Jin regime, with a concentration in the Huangwu (222–228) and Huanglong (229–231) periods of Emperor Wu’s reign, as well as the Jiahe (232–237) period. A few bamboo slips use the late years of Emperor Xian of Eastern Han’s Jian’an era (196–230). Considering that Wu-Jin had already controlled Changsha since the 10th year of the Jian’an era, we infer that these slips, including those with Jian’an-era dates, belong to the Wu-Jin government. It is not ruled out that earlier slips may be discovered among the vast majority that remain to be organized.
In terms of material, bamboo slips are predominant in the Zoulao Wu Jians. The total number of slips cannot yet be confirmed, but it is estimated that there may be 100,000 or nearly 100,000 slips after organization and numbering. This would represent one of the largest discoveries of bamboo slips in Chinese history since the Jijung Shu.
Sources on Wu-Jin history in the traditional literature are limited to The Records of the Three Kingdoms: The Wu Book and its annotations, along with a few other texts. Written materials unearthed from the period are even rarer, consisting mainly of isolated inscriptions on stone tablets, bricks, wooden tablets, and fragments of (Jin) and (Tang) manuscripts of The Records of the Three Kingdoms: The Wu Book. The discovery of the Zoulao Wu Jians has supplemented Wu-Jin historical records and filled a gap in the study of bamboo slips. Based on the wooden slips included in this volume and the bamboo slips currently being organized, the Zoulao Wu Jians appear to be official archival documents of local government offices, covering topics such as tenancy, taxation, household registration, judicial matters, and inter-office communications.
During the Eastern Han and Three Kingdoms periods, the area of Changsha was under the jurisdiction of the Changsha Commandery of Jing Province. In the 19th year of the Jian’an era (314), Emperor Wu of Wu-Jin sent Lü Meng to compete with Liu Bei for control of the three southern commanderies of Jing Province, including Changsha. The following year, it was agreed that the east of the Xiang River would belong to Wu-Jin, while the west would go to Shu-Han. Four years later, the entire Jing Province fell under Wu-Jin’s control. From then until the fall of Wu-Jin, the Changsha region remained under Wu-Jin rule. The seat of the Changsha Commandery was in Linxiang County, whose county seat was located in what is now the urban area of Changsha. In the second year of the Huangwu era (223), Wu general Bu Zhi was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Linxiang, with the administrative head of his marquisate titled Hou Xiang. The Linxiang Hou Xiang Jing mentioned in the Zoulao slips refers to him. The Zoulao slips were likely archives of the official office of the Marquis of Linxiang or a higher-level administrative body.
The urban site of Changsha has undergone minimal changes since ancient times. The central areas of the Han and Six Dynasties Changsha city and the Ming and Qing Changsha city remained unchanged. The cultural strata discovered in construction sites around Wuyi Square indicate that the Zoulao area has been the center of Changsha since the Qin and Han dynasties. The government office of the Wu-Jin Linxiang Marquisate may have been located near Wuyi Square.
Significant archaeological discoveries have been made in Changsha since modern times. The earliest Chu slips were unearthed in Changsha, including the Zidan Chu Boshu from the Danyuan site and the bamboo slips and silk manuscripts from the Mawangdui Han tombs. These revealed the cultural landscape of Changsha during the Warring States and Han periods, causing great excitement at the time. The appearance of the Zoulao Wu Jians has once again provided a wealth of historical information about the Three Kingdoms period. We anticipate that this will offer a more detailed understanding of the social and economic conditions of Changsha during the Wu-Jin era, particularly the lives of the people and the functioning of the local government. The study of the overall history of medieval Chinese society may also be significantly advanced.
These Wu Jians are also a valuable legacy of Three Kingdoms calligraphy.
The Zoulao Three Kingdoms Wu Jians Organization is responsible for the interpretation and editing of the slips, with collaboration from the Changsha Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the Chinese Academy of Cultural Relics, and the Department of History at Peking University. The tasks of photography and publication were undertaken by the Cultural Relics Publishing House. The interpretation and editing of Volume I were completed by Hu Pingsheng and Li Junming of the organization, with review by Tian Yuqing and Wu Rongzeng, under the assistance of the Changsha Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Most of the slips remain to be cleaned and interpreted, and subsequent work is ongoing.
The original Zoulao Wu Jians are stored at the Changsha Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. The institute has undertaken extensive and arduous work to rescue, preserve, and organize the slips and has also taken responsibility for planning the establishment of permanent archives. This is specially noted here.